7. Or in the village, because (there) both (rice and barley) are united, and because no obstacle is there.

8. Where he intends to cook (the sacrificial food), he establishes the fire on a place that has been smeared (with cowdung), which is elevated, and which has been sprinkled (with water), strews (round the fire) Darbha grass mixed with (stalks of) that (sort of corn to which the sacrifice refers), sacrifices the two Âgya portions and Âgya oblations (with the following Mantras):

9. 'For whom earth and heaven, the intermediate points and the chief points (of the horizon) are veiled with light, that Indra I invoke here. May his weapons be friendly towards us. Svâhâ!

'Whatsoever it be that I wish for at this sacrifice, O killer of Vritra, may all that be fulfilled to me, and may I live a hundred autumns. Svâhâ!

'In whose substance dwells the prosperity of all Vedic and worldly works, Indra's wife Sîtâ I invoke. May she not abandon me in whatever work I do. Svâhâ!

Her, who rich in horses, rich in cows, rich in delight indefatigably supports living beings, Urvarâ (i.e. the field) who is wreathed with threshing-floors, I invoke at this sacrifice, the firm One. May she not abandon me. Svâhâ!

10. He makes oblations of the cooked sacrificial food to Sîtâ, Yagâ (the goddess of sacrifice), Samâ (the goddess of zealous devotion), Bhûti (the goddess of welfare).

11. Some say that the giving (of the sacrificial food to the deities) accompanies the Mantras.

12 12. But this is excluded, as the Sruti says, 'The giving (of the oblation to the deity) accompanies the word Svâhâ.'

13. On the Kusa grass which is left over from the strewing (of grass round the fire), he offers a Bali to the protecting demons of the furrow with (the Mantra), 'They who are sitting towards the east with strong bows and quivers, may they protect thee from the east, and be vigilant and not abandon thee. To them I bring adoration, and I offer this Bali to them.'

14 14. Then to the south with (the Mantra), 'They who are sitting towards the south, not winking the eyes, wearing armour, may they protect thee from the south, and be vigilant and not abandon thee. To them I bring adoration, and I offer this Bali to them.'

15 15. Then to the west with (the Mantra), 'The powerful ones, the excellent ones, prosperity, earth, Pârshni, Sunamkuri, may they protect thee from the west, and be vigilant and not abandon thee. To them I bring adoration, and I offer this Bali to them.'

16. Then to the north with (the Mantra), 'The fearful ones, like to Vâyu in speed, may they protect

thee from the north, on the field, on the threshing-floor, in the house, on the way, and be vigilant and not abandon thee. To them I bring adoration, and I offer this Bali to them.'

17 17. Of another (sort of food) as the chief (food used at this sacrifice), and with the remainder of Âgya, he distributes Balis as above.

18. And the women should make accompanying oblations, because such is the custom.

19. When the ceremony is finished, he should feed the Brâhmanas. He should feed the Brâhmanas.

End of the Second Kânda.

Footnotes

333:1 17, 1. The goddess Sîtâ is, as her name indicates, the rustic deity of the furrow.

333:3 Perhaps the meaning is that a person who has already once performed the Sîtâ-yagña on the field, is allowed, when repeating the sacrifice another time, to celebrate it elsewhere, and to choose at his will between rice and barley.

333:4 A rule has been given in the Srauta-sûtra (Kâty. I, 9, 1: 'Rice or barley, if a Havis [is prescribed]') which shows that it is indifferent whether rice or barley is taken. Thus the sacrificer is free to elect the one or the other. At least this is the traditional meaning of this Sûtra. But possibly we had better understand it otherwise. The sacrificer should offer, according to Sûtra 3, rice or barley. Whether he has to take the one or the other, there can be no doubt, as the rule given above (Sûtra 2) shows that rice should be cooked, if the ceremony is performed for a rice-field, and barley, if for a barley-field.

335:12 The quotation has not been as yet identified in the Sruti itself, but the words quoted are found in Kâty.-Sraut. I, 2, 7.

335:14 Some words in the beginning of the Mantra are lost. We should probably write: atha dakshinatah. ye dakshinatoऽnimishâh . . . varmina âsate, &c. Of course it is impossible to say which is the word that is wanting before (or perhaps after) varminah.

335:15 Pârshni, which means 'heel,' stands here, of course, as the name of a protecting demon.